Vanimiel
by thegoodgoddess
Summary: A fairytale comes to life, for Prince Legolas. Takes place after 'Return of the King'. Please R & R
1. Prologue

Vanimiel loved to walk among the trees, she felt at peace, at home with them. As a child she had always been told not to wander to far, but as she had grown she would go further from her home. 

One day on her travels she encountered an elderly wizard, he seemed friendly she spent hours talking to him. She had always been friendly, no matter who or what she encountered. This worried her parents so. And this day she didn't return home, and her parents couldn't find her anywhere. They called for help from the closest Elven City, which happened to be Rivendell. Lord Elrond sent some of his finest Elves to help in the search for the young princess. 

They searched for days, and when they finally found her all feared the worse. She was lying on a bed of leaves; next to her was a parchment. One of the Elves picked up the parchment and quietly read it to himself. Then read it out loud. 

    _The Princess Vanimiel will not waken till she is kissed by a true and fair elf._

He looked around at the group, and they all realised this meant she was still alive. They bore her to Rivendell, where she would lay peacefully, awaiting her true and fair Elven rescuer. They lay her on a slab of stone covered in a generous amount of leaves. 

A few hundred years later, most of the Elves had forgotten her, and barely visited her anymore. Elrond made sure he did, he came regularly to brush away the leaves that had fallen on her. On one of his visits he noticed metal clasps on her ankles and wrists, holding her in place upon the stone slab. He wondered who would do such a thing to such a beautiful Elf. 

A man appeared in front of him, on the other side of the fair Princess. He looked young, but had such wisdom in his eyes. But Elrond could sense evil all about this being. The man looked towards the princess. 

He sighed, "I see none of woken her." 

"None know how to."

The man looked towards Elrond, both of them quietly walked away from the princess, they got a certain distance, when the man turned back towards her. A building appeared, encasing her within. "What is the princesses name?"

"None remember it."

"What shall she be called then?"

Elrond thought about this for a minute, and decided, "Nilharmaiel." 

The man looked at him quizzically.

"Means Beauty that Sleeps." Elrond simply said.

At the front of the building upon it's highest point three words appeared. _SINOME ESTAR NILHARMAIEL. _

Above the door more words appeared. _ERE' ER AA' PUTTA 1'-ISTA TANYA GWEDHIE SINA SAMNA._

None knew of the building, and soon Nilharmaiel passed into fairytale, but then became known as a legend.

But her story nought stops here, for she lies, she still breaths in that building hidden amongst the trees of Rivendell. But all had lost hope of her wakening. Storytellers still speak of her, her beauty and grace, and that one day…she will be found. 


	2. Chapter 1

Legolas was getting annoyed with the fairytale of Nilharmaiel, but the children just loved hearing the story. Over and over again they would ask for it. But they always had questions about it, because to them, the story was not yet finished, for the princess still slept, in that secret room which has also long since been forgotten. There are naught who know where it is, or even which Elven Kingdom it resides, if it resides at all. Legolas thought a lot about this, but only when the storyteller was telling the tale. He had heard the fairytale numerous times, especially when he was growing up. It was a magical tale, with no ending. That always intrigued everyone -- what kind of Elf writes a story that does not end? As always the storyteller answered by saying, "the kind of Elf that writes a story that does not end is one who is writing about a story that has not yet finished." Of course no one believed him. It was legend, and legends weren't true -- everyone knew that. Yet without fail, many Elves came to listen to the storyteller when he told that tale. It made them all believe in magic, whether good or bad.  
  
"What does she look like, " one of the small elven children asked.   
  
Just after she said this Gimli sat down next to Legolas. He was about to speak, but Legolas waved his hand as a signal to be quiet.   
  
"Ah, her beauty surpasses that of any Elf you have ever seen. Long golden blonde hair, clear blue eyes..."  
  
Gimli thought for a moment. "He must be talking about Galadriel."   
  
"Nay, he speaks of Nilharmaiel," Legolas started. "You forget that none of these children have seen the Lady of the Wood. I would think that Nilharmaiel would be more of a sight than Galadriel."  
  
The elven children kept asking the storyteller more questions about the Elven Princess. The children kept getting more inquisitive with every telling!   
  
"Where is she from?"   
  
"None remember."   
  
"How will she wake up?"   
  
"That is one thing the Elven People were not told."   
  
"Why not?"   
  
The Elf chuckled, "Because the sorcerer did not see fit to tell anyone."   
  
"Well that's just not right," one of the children pouted.   
  
With this Legolas chuckled. The children could be so charming.   
  
One of the children turned to him, "Prince Legolas, would you find her?"   
  
Legolas looked at the child, "If I knew where to look, possibly," he nodded.   
  
Veborion, one of the Kings guards, made his way to where Legolas was seated. He waited until he was given permission to speak. "Your father wishes to see you right away."   
  
Legolas nodded, and began to stand. He smiled as the storyteller began another tale, and the children had gone quiet, listening intently to what he was saying. He bid his friend farewell, and made his way to his fathers study.   
  
Upon his arrival at his fathers study, he noticed one of the guards pacing nervously outside the door. He looked an absolute wreck!   
  
"Astaldion, what is the matter?" he asked him.   
  
"I fear your father is angry with me, Prince Legolas."   
  
He kept pacing, fidgeting constantly. Legolas looked on, not sure what to do.   
  
"Now why would my father be angry with you? You have never done anything to disrespect him, or harm the kingdom."   
  
Astaldion began to stutter, "I..know..but…that's not…what's wrong."   
  
Legolas was about to ask what he meant by that, when his father's personal handmaiden came out. She blushed at the sight of the Prince as most handmaidens in the palace did. Legolas sighed, he really wished they wouldn't do that. She signalled that the King was free, and he could now enter.   
  
Legolas entered his fathers study, "You called for me father?"  
  
"Yes, I have an urgent message that needs to be taken to Lord Elrond at once. You can take Astaldion and Veborion with you, and that Dwarf."  
  
"When do you wish for us to leave?"  
  
"First light tomorrow, you will come and see me before leaving."  
  
With that Legolas left the room and told Astaldion and Veborion of the plans, then he went to get a pack ready for the travelling.  
  
Legolas was up before the sun the next morning, and readying his horse, for the four days travel. After that he made his way to his father's study. Upon arrival the door was already open and his father waiting patiently. Without a word, he handed his son a sealed paper (with the message on it, Legolas imagined.)  
  
His father wished him farewell, and a safe journey.  
  
The four travellers made there way out the Palace gate, and onwards to Rivendell.


	3. Chapter 2

Legolas and his party took there time in travelling to Rivendell for they thought the message was not that important. They couldn't understand why the Prince must take it then, for only he carried an important message. They arrived without mishap, there were few orcs about lately, and most dare not come near elven kingdoms.  

Legolas made sure he gave the message to Lord Elrond personally, since his father had said not to let anyone else read it. Which was rather weird, he used to always tell him everything, even what was in the messages, since one day he would be king. Legolas could wait for that day he liked having some freedom. 

The minute Lord Elrond read the message, he called for his fastest messengers. Gave them all a special notice to take to Gondor, The Shire, and to the Dwarves. He was calling for an immediate council to be held sometime soon. Rivendell went in to an uproar, preparing for all the visitors that would be arriving soon. 

Legolas was none to fussed with what the council was for, but was told he would be needed at it, so he and his guards and Gimli stayed in Rivendell, awaiting the arrival of the others. Neither of them could wait for the arrival of the other Fellowship members. They hadn't seen them in a very long time. 

~*~*~*~*~

A beautiful creature started walking towards him. She had long, flowing blonde hair, with the slightest of waves through it. She wore a white gown, with silver entwined through, which sparkled in the moonlight. She stopped and then a sight breeze blew all around them, her hair brushing across her face. "Will you help me?" she asked in quiet, soft voice. Legolas wanted to reply but couldn't, no sound came from his mouth when he moved his lips.  There was sadness about this she-elf, a sense of sorrow, and the feeling she was lost.

Legolas looked about him, he was in his room at Rivendell. Leaves were blowing about the place. He sat stunned for a while, never had he experienced so much feeling in one dream, but was it a dream, it felt so real. Yet he had never seen that she-elf before, nor had he seen the place they were standing in. What if it was a vision, and this she-elf needed help, but how could he help her, when he had no idea of who she was or even where she was. 

Legolas lay back down, he couldn't get the image of this elf out of his head, and she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He was still thinking about her when the bells sounded, meaning visitors were arriving. Excitedly he leaped out of bed, quickly cleaning himself up and getting dressed. He regained his composure upon leaving his room, and walked down the hall towards the entrance of Rivendell. 

He made his way through the opening and discovered Aragorn had arrived with his wife Arwen, plus a few soldiers and possible bodyguards from Gondor. Aragorn greeted his friend with a friendly hug, they hadn't seen each other in a long time, and it had been too long for both of them. 

The three of them (Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn) , decided to take a walk around Rivendell. They came across a serene spot, which caused Legolas to stop, he looked about himself, he had never been to this part of Rivendell before, yet it looked so familiar, just then the wind picked up and started to blow the leaves around. Gimli and Aragorn looked back at their friend and Gimli made a comment about Elves and nature. Aragorn looked at his friend and realised it had nothing to with nature.

"Legolas…" Aragorn started, but was interrupted.

"Shhh."

Legolas listened to the wind, it seemed to be whispering to him. But he could not tell what it was saying. 

~*~*~*~*~

She stood before him yet again, but in a different place this time. She reached a milky white hand up and brushed away a strand of hair that had found it's way on to his face. She whispered to him, "Will you help me?" This time he managed to find his voice, "Who are you?" "You already know that answer to that my Prince." They stood there for what seemed ages just gazing into each other's eyes. Then she turned and began to walk away from. He wanted her to stay, wanted to spend more time with her, but before he could say anything…she was gone. 

Legolas was beginning to wonder what these dreams were trying to tell him. He lay there looking at the ceiling, it was still dark, and the moon was shining silver light into his room. He could see the leaves dancing about his room, as a slight breeze made it's way through. He watched as they twirled about, almost fantastically. He thought about the she-elf, he was positive he had never seen her in his entire life. Yet she seemed familiar. He wished to talk to her again, find out why she needed help, and who she was. He pondered this has he drifted off into a dreamless state. 

Legolas woke the next morning, feeling very refreshed. The image of the she-elf permanently etched into his mind. 

The 4 Hobbits soon arrived after he woke, and Gandalf arrived with them. The eight of them rejoiced in there meeting again, and sat down in one of the gardens to 'catch up'. While the others chatted eagerly, Legolas seemed distant, he was staring of into the trees, his eyes looking glazed over, and it was as if someone was looking back. Aragorn kept a close eye on his friend, he was worried about him, never before had he seen him like this. Legolas didn't seem to care he wasn't apart of the conversation, nor did he care his friends didn't seem to notice. His thoughts kept going back to that Elf, she was magnificent, and she had said he knew who she was. This puzzled him so, as he had never seen such a creature in all his life, one so enchanting. 

Legolas stood, "I feel like a walk in the woods, I will catch up with you at a later time."

And with that he went off into the near-by trees, something was calling him there, he could hear his name being whispered by the trees, and by the wind. After a long while, he found a peaceful spot and instantly recognised it from one of his dreams. He felt as though he was being watched, but no one was there. He stood there for a moment, listening to the trees, and the wind, they had stopped whispering, they barely even moved now. 

He heard footsteps approaching him, and turned around to see Aragorn had followed him, he walked towards his friend, and together they departed the woods.

Unbeknown to them, just beyond the trees, was a building, an old building. 


End file.
